


A change of heart

by Mother of Heathens (chasing_the_wild_dream)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Valentine's Day, swanqueen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 22:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29443215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasing_the_wild_dream/pseuds/Mother%20of%20Heathens
Summary: Emma wants to celebrate Valentine's Day but Regina refuses with all her might, not knowing that it's not really about Valentine's Day, to begin with.Will she change her mind and what's Emma's real reason for celebrating?Disclaimer: OUAT and all its characters belong to Adam Horowitz, Eddy Kitsis and ABC.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 19
Kudos: 82





	A change of heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Atomicbomb_babe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atomicbomb_babe/gifts).



> _I know I'm worse than the grinch but that's the reason this OS exists._  
>  Happy V-Day to everyone celebrating!
> 
> _And to **Megan** : Thank you for putting up with me despite being said grouch. For allowing me to be me._

“There's nothing romantic about Valentine's day, Emma! Saint Valentin was a priest who died as a martyr. He was beheaded!”, Regina stated in an attempt to reason with Emma, “Why anyone chose that day to celebrate anything is beyond me.”

Emma's love for the holidays, all kinds of holidays, was the one thing Regina despised.  
She had come to accept family dinner with Snow and Charming every Sunday, she tolerated going to The Rabbit Hole once a month for a night out with Emma's friends.  
With their friends, if she was really honest.  
She put up with the yellow death trap in her driveway and she had agreed to celebrate Christmas because Emma had looked like a lost puppy since she never had a family to celebrate it with before.  
Halloween was for Henry and Thanksgiving was for the whole family, apparently.  
She endured it all without complaining.  
Much.

She wouldn't budge when it came to Valentine's day though.  
Not in a million years.  
Regina found it bizarre and that was saying something considering that she had been The Evil Queen.

Emma might have grown up in the system and it might have been horrible in some of her homes but Regina would never be one of these silly people who ran around with cards and flowers and chocolates because some flower shop owner decided to make the deal of his life by inventing a day for lovers.  
Especially not when he had chosen the day where its namesake had ended up headless.

What kind of foolishness was this supposed to be?  
Had the world gone mad?

Ever since they had started dating, after many fights, near-death experiences, and sacrificing their happiness for each other repeatedly, Regina had made it a rule that they would skip that day.  
Emma was not to mention it and she knew it and yet.

And yet Emma had tried to invite her to dinner which she had declined.  
She had seen the defeat in Emma's eyes, the disappointment, and as much as it had torn at Regina's heartstrings, this time she wouldn't cave.

Of course, she understood that it was important to Emma, probably even more so because she had never had anyone to celebrate Valentine's day with.  
Neither had Regina but then again she didn't care for any holiday whatsoever.

“I just”, Emma's shoulders sagged, “I love you, Regina. Not just today. Every day. You know that. And I know...that Valentine's day started out as something horrible. But isn't that all the more reason to turn it into something beautiful?”

Oh, that was a good one.  
Regina had to give her that.  
She took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, “Be that as it may. The answer is still no, Emma. If you are so crazy about celebrating it...celebrate it with your mother. I'm sure Snow would be over the moon. Or go drinking with your friends. I want nothing to do with that idiocy.”

“Okay.”  
One word and then Emma was gone.

Regina sighed heavily, well aware that she had hurt Emma's feelings.  
She felt awful, she wouldn't lie, but she had made so many compromises for Emma already, there had to be a line somewhere.  
\-------------------------------------------

_The next day – Valentine's day_

Regina walked into the kitchen at 7 am to find the table already set and breakfast at the ready.  
She rose an eyebrow at Emma who was standing at the stove, making pancakes.

“Emma.”  
She said it warningly but Emma shrugged it off, “I'm just making you breakfast. You can't be mad at me for that.”

Regina sighed in defeat and took a seat.  
She had expected to find Emma passed out and snoring after the graveyard shift at the station, not making her breakfast.  
Trust Emma to find a way around her _We aren't celebrating Valentine's day_ rule.

It didn't happen often but Emma did fix breakfast here and there.  
So no, she wouldn't be angry, there simply was no justification for that.  
\-----------------------------------------

She had told Emma that she loved her, kissed her goodbye, and had gone to work only minutes after Henry had left for school.

Sitting in her office now Regina found herself distracted by the sadness in Emma's usually sparkling eyes.  
Why was this day so important to Emma?  
She was tempted to call her and demand an answer but Regina knew that Emma would be sleeping and she deserved the rest after working nights for three weeks straight now because David had broken his foot by rescuing a cat out of a tree.

When Ruby entered her office twenty minutes later with a lunch bag in hand Regina felt the headache coming.  
Emma stopped by to bring her lunch quite often but Ruby delivering it was a rare occurrence.

“Emma meant to come by herself but something came up”, Ruby explained apologetically.

“Should I be worried?”  
Regina couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Ruby shook her head, “No. There was a call about a domestic. Emma and Dorothy headed out.”

“Thank you for lunch”, Regina replied and watched Ruby head for the door before she stopped in her tracks, “I know it's not my place, but today is important for Emma. Not for the reasons you might think though. Maybe you'll find it in your heart to indulge her. You love her after all.”  
\-----------------------------------------

Emma had a bandaged hand and a bandaid on her temple when Regina returned to the mansion after work.

“What happened?”  
She was by Emma's side in an instant, holding her good hand.

“I'm fine. Just a bruised wrist and a scratch. I only needed two stitches”, Emma assured.

“That's not was I was asking. What happened? Who did this?”, Regina tried to stay calm which proved terribly difficult because no one was allowed to hurt Emma. Everyone in this bloody town knew that.

“We were called to Philipp's and Aurora's house when I was about to pick up your lunch. It was bad”, Emma dropped her gaze.

“Philipp hit Aurora?”, Regina asked in disbelief as she watched Emma shrug helplessly, “Yeah. He's completely lost it. We tried to break up the fight and he knocked me off my feet. I'm fine though.”

“You are not fine”, Regina seethed, “I'll rip his heart out!”

“No, you won't”, Emma cupped her cheek, a sad smile on her face, “I love how protective you are, Regina. But you won't harm him. He's cooling down in his cell. He'll regret this for the rest of his life because I know that he loves Aurora. I don't know what happened there but she called her lawyer on the way to the hospital. She'll divorce him.”

“Serves him right”, Regina growled before she kissed Emma gently, “Hello darling.”

Emma chuckled, “Hi.”

“You should get some rest. You aren't going back to work for the rest of the week. I don't care who covers for you but you've done enough”, Regina stated, more like commanded but Emma shook her head, “I'm the only one available tonight. Everyone else is out celebrating...you know.”

“Emma...”

“It's fine, Regina. Don't worry about it”, Emma put a kiss on Regina's forehead, “I need to get dressed.”  
\---------------------------------------------

It was only after Emma had left the house that Regina lost her resolve.  
She had taken the trash out and that was when she had found a beautiful bouquet of roses in the bin. Together with shredded decorations and torn wrapping paper.

Her heart clenched painfully in her chest and she cursed herself.  
Did it matter _why_ it was so important to Emma to celebrate Valentine's day?  
No, it wasn't.  
What mattered was that it was important to Emma.

The moment Henry entered the house Regina dragged him away, in dire need of help.  
Her son grinned knowingly, for more than one reason it seemed, because he told her she wouldn't regret it.  
\----------------------------------

Emma appeared in the middle of the living room in a could of white smoke.

She had been bored at the station when she had received a text message from Henry that said: _You might want to come home. I think there's something wrong with mom._  
He hadn't picked up the phone when she had tried to call and neither had Regina and she hadn't hesitated.

“Regina?”

No answer.  
She left the room slightly panicked and stormed into the kitchen, only to find it dark and empty.

“REGINA!”

Still no answer.  
She ran up the stairs but Regina wasn't in her bedroom either.

“Kid?!”, she pulled the door to Henry's room open, only to find it empty.  
What was going on here?

She tried to call Henry's phone again but it went straight to voicemail.  
She dialed again.

When she heard Regina's phone ringing downstairs she sighed in relief.  
But where was it coming from?

Taking two stairs at a time she rushed back down only to realize the sound was coming from the dining room.  
What the hell?

Emma pulled the door almost off its hinges a few moments later and stopped dead in her tracks.  
There were candles burning everywhere and the table was set and beautifully decorated.  
The roses she had thrown into the trash were sitting in a vase in the center.  
Lasagna was on the table. Mashed potatoes and pot roast. Steak. Green beans and burgers.  
All of Emma's favorites really.

She felt arms wrap around her waist from behind and a kiss on her neck, “Happy Valentine's day, darling.”

A shiver ran down Emma's spine and she turned around, looking at Regina in absolute disbelief, “Why?”

Regina kissed her softly, “Because I love you. I don't know why today is so important to you but I'm sure you have your reasons.”

Emma shifted her weight from one foot to the other, “I've had a doctor's appointment this afternoon. It was merely a coincidence that it was today. And I wanted to make the day special because of it. I was sure before today but I wanted to have confirmation anyway.”

Regina visibly paled, “Is something wrong? Are you sick?”

Emma smiled, “I'm pregnant.”

“W-what?”, Regina's eyes went wide, sure that she must have heard wrong.

“You'll be a mom again, Madame Mayor. I hope you were serious when you said you wanted to have another kid with me last year because otherwise, we'll have a problem”, Emma tried to joke because all of a sudden she was scared that Regina had changed her mind.

“How?”, Regina rasped out, her voice shaking.

Emma took her hand and intertwined their fingers, “After IF didn't work the second time and you suggested we take a break before we try again I saw how much you were hurting. And more than that I _knew_ because I felt the same way. I want to raise a baby with you. It was Henry who suggested I try again one more time once I felt ready. We were aware that you were trying to accept that it might never happen and that was why Henry and I decided to keep it quiet until we knew for sure. And now we do. Thirteen weeks pregnant.”

Emma pulled an ultrasound picture out of her jacket pocket, “We waited a little longer to be sure because a lot can happy before the 12th week but third time's the charm it seems.”

Regina took the picture with shaking hands, tears running down her face.  
She kept staring at it for a while, trying to process and cursing herself for shutting Emma down so many times when she had a more than valid reason to celebrate this dreadful day.

“You were right”, she admitted at last and met Emma's eyes, “It might have started out with an act of cruelty once but there's no reason not to turn this day into one worth celebrating.”

Emma opened her arms and Regina stepped into her embrace willingly, arms wrapping around her neck, “We won't name our baby Valentine though.”

Emma grinned in amusement, “Duly noted and I accept.”

“You are my greatest gift, Emma”, Regina admitted as she cupped Emma's cheek, “You and Henry. And our little miracle. I love you so much.”

“And I love you, Regina.”

Food long forgotten they drowned in a passionate kiss filled with love and contentment.  
Regina might not care for Valentine's day but she'd never forget it anymore after today. And she'd celebrate it for the rest of her life.

She didn't care why everyone else was crazy about it but to Regina, it would be another milestone in her long journey back from the darkness.  
After fighting for her redemption, after sacrificing so much, she had found a love she had never expected.  
With Emma Swan of all people.  
Her beautiful Emma.

They had always been a family, even if it had taken her a while to see that, but Henry had helped her understand.  
She had been well aware that she couldn't ask for more because she felt she didn't deserve it and yet she had dreamed of a house filled with love, joy, and laughter.  
And a baby to raise with the people she held dear.  
Emma had longed for it just as much and Henry had been ecstatic when they had told him that he might end up being a big brother.

She'd never forget the feeling of defeat when it hadn't worked the second time around and Regina had decided to accept it for she had so much more than most people anyway.

And yet here she was, kissing the woman she loved, celebrating love and life.  
It wasn't Valentine's day to Regina though.  
To Regina, it would always be the day that fate had granted her a wish at last.


End file.
